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Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Braves limping toward September
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Remember all the years past when the Braves would put it in cruise control for all or most of September as they rolled to another division title?
Remember how the Braves’ lackluster performance in the final weeks of the regular season, after clinching, would become a concern because most other NL playoff contenders were having to play hard (and stay sharp) until the end?
Oh, what the Braves and their disappointed fans would give to have those kinds of concerns now, instead of frustrations and anger over a maddeningly inconsistent second half and this awful road trip that’s diminishing their postseason chances.
Last night might have been the cherry on top of this collapsing sundae, a 4-3, 11-inning loss that featured a 19-strikeout performance by Braves hitters, who were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position in a game they knew they needed badly to win, against lowly Florida, losers of 12 of its previous 13 games.
The horror…. The horror….
Forget for a moment the costly miscommunication between emergency left fielder Pete Orr and center fielder Andruw Jones on a catchable ball that resulted in an 11th-inning double that led to the winning run.
Let’s focus instead on the wasted opportunities throughout by Braves hitters, against a Marlins pitching staff that’s neither experienced nor been effective most nights this season.
Because for a Braves team that leads the NL in many offensive categories, including hitting with runners in scoring position, they sure have a way of being, well, offensive.
For a team with a potent lineup and such lofty batting averages with RISP and with RISP and two outs (they lead the NL in both catgegories), the Braves sure have a way for shrinking in the most crucial of those situations, again and again.
And it’s only gotten worse at the most important point of the season, when they’ve needed big hits and big performances to lift a rather mediocre pitching staff. Even when the Braves get good pitching, as they got last night from John Smoltz and the bullpen, the Braves find a way to lose crucial games against mediocre or bad teams.
They are 3-6 on a 10-game trip that mercifically ends tonight, and the Braves are 0-3 in one-run games on this trip, and 0-5 in games decided by two runs or fewer. Their only three wins were by scores of 14-4, 7-2 and 13-2.
As we mentioned yesterday, hey pile up hits, especially with runners on base, in one-sided games, and too often fail to get a few such crucial hits in close games when they need them most. They are 15-21 in one-run games this season.
Where’d the road mojo go? It disappeared when the Braves started losing so many close games on the road, the games they were winning early on.
This is a team that went 27-21 in 48 road games through July 24. Since then the Braves are 7-13 on the road, including an abysmal 2-12 in games decided by one or two runs.
Let’s repeat that, for emphasis: They have lost 12 of their past 14 road games that were decided by two runs or fewer. That includes an 0-3 record in extra-innings road games in that span.
The Braves still are tied for the NL’s highest overall batting average at .277, but their average in close-and-late situations is .254, tied for sixth in the NL. Their .385 slugging percentage is 57 points lower than their overall mark.
Smoltz seems shell-shocked. And who can blame him? After last night’s game, he seemed in a daze as he spoke in disheartened tones about how this record keeps playing again and again, the losses mounting, the Braves unable to find ways to win. “I’m running out of words,” he said after last night’s loss.
No one feels the sting more than Smoltz, who is 40 and not just running out of words, but running out of time. He’s the only Brave who was around for all 14 consecutive division titles, and really, it seems almost cruel that he’s the one who is getting so little support those nights when he’s on the hill trying to get the Braves back to the playoffs.
Consider this: In his past 10 starts, Smoltz has a 3.18 ERA and 65 strikeouts with 16 walks in 68 innings. Yet he has only three wins in that span. The Braves provided him with more than three support runs while he was in four of those games, and he went 3-0 in those four starts, all Braves wins.
They provided him with just one support run in four of those 10 starts, and Smoltz was 0-2 in those four games despite producing three quality starts, including the one he had in last night’s no-decision.
Whiffs piling up: Bobby Cox and Terry Pendleton have often said in recent years that they don’t care about high strikeout totals, long as players are productive otherwise.
But this is getting a bit ridiculous.
Twice this season the Braves have struck out 19 times in one game. Twice this season they’ve had a player strike out in all five plate appearances in a game.
Put another way, Andruw Jones and Jeff Francoeur have done in a span of four months - whiff five times in a game — what no Brave had done in 14 years since Dave Justice wore the platinum sombrero with a five-strikeout game in 1993.
Only the young Rockies have struck out more in August than the Braves, who’ve amassed 204 strikeouts in 961 at-bats this month. The Cardinals have 161 strikeouts this month, the Mets 166, and even the Reds, with whiff-machine Adam Dunn, have only 147 strikeouts in August.
Yes, an out’s an out much of the time. But in some situations, particularly with two runners on base and less than two outs, an out’s a pretty lousy out.
Last night the Braves had runners at second and third with none out in the fifth inning, and stranded the runners by recording three straight outs including a Kelly Johnson strikeout to end the inning. Smoltz’s lineout to the pitcher for out No. 1 was the best swing anybody got of the three consecutive outs.
Then in the sixth they put their first two runners on base again and failed to score. This time, Francoeur and Andruw struck out to end that inning.
Francoeur has made big strides toward becoming a better overall hitter this season. He’s had a solid second full season in the majors. That said, he’s been awful on this trip and struggling most of August, at the most crucial time.
He is three starts away from a 300-consecutive-games streak. So what?
If he’s as tired as his looked last night and the past week, what’s the point? He and no one else will ever approach Ripken’s record, so what’s the point in trying to play every single game, if you need a day off? Rest him a game now, put the streak to bed so you’re not tempted to play every game next season. Enough.
Francoeur is 18-for-80 (.212) with seven RBIs, 24 strikeouts and more grounded-into-double-plays (4) than homers (3) in his last 20 games. In the past eight games, he’s gone 5-for-38 (.132) with one RBI, one walk and 11 strikeouts.
Enough with the LF platoon? Speaking of struggling, how bad must it get for Willlie Harris before he sacrifices some playing time to platoon partner Matt Diaz, or at least before the Braves pull Harris from leadoff duties?
Harris is 6-for-49 (.122) with one RBI, seven runs, one stolen base and a .228 on-base percentage in his past 16 games, and the Braves are 6-10 in those games.
He went 6-for-6 with six RBIs in the game of his life July 21 vs. St. Louis. Outstanding. Sublime performance. But it was more than a month ago.
He had six RBIs that night, and seven RBIs in 32 games since then.
Yes, beginning July 22, Harris has gone 24-for-109 (.220) with seven RBIs, 24 strikeouts and a .328 OBP in 32 games, with six caught-stealings in seven attempts. He has more errors (2) than steals (1) in that span.
And on the road? Oye. Harris has hit .183 (15-for-32) with six extra-base hits and one RBI in 30 road games since June 29. In that same period, Diaz has hit .362 (42-for-116) with 10 doubles, six homers and 20 RBIs in 48 road games.
But enough moaning. Who wants pie?
OK, to take us out, we’ll turn to J.R. This is the last song the Man in Black wrote before he died, and unfortunately it might apply to this Braves season.
”LIKE THE 309” by Johnny Cash
It should be a while before I see doctor Death
So, it would sure would be nice if I could get my breath
Well, I’m not the cryin’, nor the whinin’ kind
‘til I hear the whistle of the 309, of the 309, of the 309
Put me in my box on the 309
Take me to the depot, put me to bed
Blow an electric fan on my gnarly ol’ head
Everybody take a look, see, I’m doin’ fine
Then load my box on the 309
On the 309, on the 309
Put me in my box on the 309
Hey, sweet baby, kiss me hard
Draw my bath water, sweep my yard
Give a drink of my wine to my jersey cow
I wouldn’t give a hoot-and-nail for my journey now
On the 309, on the 309
I hear the sound of a railroad train
The whistle blows and I’m gone again
Hitman, take me higher than a Georgia pine
Stand back children, it’s the 309
It’s the 309, it’s the 309
Put me in my box on the 309
A chicken in the pot and turkey in the corn
Ain’t felt this good since Jubilee morn’
Talk about luck, well, I got mine
Asthma comin’ down like the 309
haaaaaaaa…..
Write me a letter, sing me a song
Tell me all about it, what I did wrong
Meanwhile, I will be doin’ fine
Then load my box on the 309
On the 309, on the 309
Gonna get outta here on the 309
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